Judge
}} The Judge is a Brazilian Revolver Shotgun. It is unlocked at rank 113, or it can be purchased with credits. History The Taurus Judge is a revolver produced by the Brazilian company Taurus. It is derived from their earlier Taurus Tracker model of revolver. Designed to fire both .45 Long Colt and .410 shotshells, the Taurus Judge is marketed as a self-defense weapon against close quarters encounters such as carjackings, robberies, and home defense situations. The barrel has shallow rifling, which aside from meeting in the middle where the .45 Long Colt rounds remain at least somewhat accurate and the .410 shotshells don't run into dispersion issues, means that under American firearms law, the Judge is technically not a short barreled shotgun. This makes it legal to own in any American state other than California, which has a wider definition as to what a short barreled shotgun is defined as. Taurus also markets other variants of the Judge revolver. The Raging Judge, represented in Phantom Forces as the Executioner, is strengthened and upgraded to fire the .454 Casull round. There is also the Circuit Judge carbine, sold under the Rossi subsidiary brand, which is represented in Phantom Forces as the Jury. In-Game ''General Information The Judge is an unusual weapon. Despite being a revolver, it fires shotgun shells, making it comparable to the secondary shotguns, namely the Saiga-12U and Sawed Off, rather than any revolver. These shells only fire half the amount of pellets in standard buckshot rounds; four pellets instead of eight. Regardless, damage is fairly high for a shotgun, dealing 40 damage up close and 20 at the end of its damage drop off; higher per-pellet damage than other shotguns. This means it is capable of a one-shot kill (1SK) assuming either three or all pellets hit the target. Range is average, with its damage beginning to drop off at 25 studs and stopping at 60 studs, meaning the Judge can kill with one shot to the body up until approximately 51 studs, assuming all pellets connect. Muzzle velocity is above average for a shotgun, at 2000 studs per second. Rate of fire (RoF) is quite fast for a shotgun, at 300 RPM; tied with the AA-12 for second-fastest firing shotgun. This gives the Judge a slightly faster time to kill (TTK) within its 1SK range compared to other shotguns albeit a very marginal difference, but a more noticeable difference when a user fails to achieve a 1SK. The Judge also has tigher pellet spread compared to most shotguns, making it more accurate and subsequently more consistent. Capacity is higher than any secondary shotgun at five rounds. Ammunition reserve is also higher than any secondary shotgun at 25 rounds. Reload times are identical for both tactical and empty reloads given it being a revolver, requiring 3.5 seconds. Recoil is quite high, especially when fired at its 300 RPM firecap. Usage & Tactics The Judge can be drawn relatively quickly, making it an excellent panic weapon. If an enemy is bearing down on a player, the Judge can be drawn and snap-aimed relatively quickly, allowing the player to dump a lethal spread of buckshot downrange towards their assailant. This can become even more important when dealing with weapons like sniper rifles or heavy DMRs that don't handle close quarters encounters as well. The Judge also suits itself well to an aggressive playstyle, as long as the wielder does not try to get themselves into the thick of combat. With the ability to collect shotgun ammunition, which is relatively common on the battlefield, the Judge can be used to quickly dispose of targets. Only three pellets need to connect at any range for a kill. With the Judge's tight spread, its effective instant kill range is somewhere between 20 and 30 studs. However, this damage comes at the price of the 2 pellets that all other shotguns get, meaning the Judge cannot perform crowd control very well. For players seeking a crowd control solution, the dedicated secondary shotguns serve that role much better than the Judge does. Like other shotguns, the Judge can accept alternative ammunition types. Flechette is available for a tight, penetrative punch (increases the pellet count to 6), Birdshot is useful for ramping up the Judge into a proper shotgun (pellet count increased to 8) and Slugs fires a single, hard-hitting round. However, reserve ammunition is decreased by 5. Conclusion The Judge is a near-perfect weapon for players seeking a quick, instant kill weapon that can be drawn at a moment's notice and remains accurate at a distance. However, it's also easy to overwhelm a Judge user with numbers, and range causes the Judge to lose most of its effectiveness, just like with any other shotgun. Single targets at close range are the Judge's forte. Pros & Cons '''Pros:' * Highest per-pellet damage out of any shotgun in-game. * Highest capacity out of any secondary shotgun in-game. * High ammunition reserve for a secondary shotgun. * Second highest firerate of any shotgun. * Surprisingly tight spread for a secondary shotgun. * Flechette and Birdshot rounds increase the pellets per shot. Cons: * Only four pellets per shot. * Lowest base range for any secondary shotgun in-game. * High recoil. Trivia * This is the first weapon that takes shotgun ammunition to not be classed as a ‘shotgun’ or ‘other’ weapon. ** This was also the first shotgun-type weapon to not be able to take alternate shotgun ammo types since the ability to do so was introduced, however, this was changed in update 4.13.0. * This is the second shotgun-type weapon to take unique shotgun ammunition (.410 bore), the first being the KS-23M, which uses 23×75mmR shells. * Due to the .410 bore having comparable size dimensions to .45 Colt and .454 Casull, the Judge shoots the smallest shotgun caliber in the game. It is also why it shoots the smallest pellet count, since .410 is barely wide enough to fit 00 buckshot, and long enough to fit four of these pellets. * The Judge is the only weapon to come with purple iron sights. * The name of the gun, along with the Jury and the Executioner, forms the English idiom "judge, jury, and executioner". This idiom essentially means that the person in question is in charge of all decisions made, and those decisions are all final, as if the legal process was suspended. References Category:Weaponry Category:Secondary Weapons Category:Revolvers